On May 15th, at 8:55 in the morning, my sister had a baby. A six pound, twelve ounce, little bundle of pure perfection. I think I would think he was perfect even if he wasn't. Even if he didn't have all ten fingers and all ten toes. Even if he wasn't cute. (He is, though.) I'd think he was perfect without his sweet baby noises and sweet baby smell. And I'd think he was perfect if he was what some might say is "too small" instead of "just right." Which he is. He's perfect because he's hers.
He came from one of the most amazing people I know. One of the people in this world that I love more than anything else. How could I find him anything less than perfect?
Oh, he gave her a go of it. He didn't make things easy. Not from the moment we knew he existed. And right up until the end (which is actually the beginning, isn't it?) he made sure to let it be known this was his show. Starting his grand entrance two weeks before his due date and then making his Mama wait and wait and wait once she got to the hospital.
I won't get into the ins and outs of her delivery. Deliveries are so different for every Mommy. Just like all Mommies and babies are different. And I sometimes think we can put too much emphasis on the in-between. Babies being born are not contests. We shouldn't try to outdo each other with whose was harder, longer, better, easier, or whatever adjective you'd like to throw on it. We all have the same goal: to end up with a happy and healthy baby AND Mommy. Done. But I will say this: every birth is something to be in awe of. No matter the method. No matter the audience. No matter the length of time. Planned or in a hurry. It is something that will leave you changed.
I was not in the room when my nephew got his very first, "Happy Birthday!" That was a special moment between my sister, her husband (and those angels that God made into Nurses). But I was able to be there right up until the Big Show started. And to see my sister, in the midst of what seemed like chaos and then to come back when her boy, her Jonathan Patrick, was here, was just amazing.
She had done it. They had created this wonderful little person. But she, the Mommy, had brought him into this world. And now we all get to love on him forever. Or at least until he's old enough to beg us to stop. Which we will promptly ignore. He's perfect. And Aunt Jess is terribly smitten.
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